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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Harraka, Wauters To Skip Next Two Truck Races

Harraka taking a break

Paulie Harraka and the Wauters Motorsports NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series team will skip this weekend’s event at Michigan International
Speedway.

Harraka is a rookie on the Truck Series, and has struggled in his
first season with freshman team owner Richie Wauters. Generally seeing the
series’ tracks for the first time in his career, Harraka relied on veteran Ted
Musgrave as a driver coach to help maximize his learning curve.

A statement from the team today said Harraka and Wauters, “have
opted to skip the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan
International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway” and are “carefully
evaluating which of the remaining races to participate in to optimize (Harraka’s)
continued development as a young driver.”

“Paulie has grown a tremendous amount as a racecar driver this
season, without question,” said Wauters. “He has continually shown the work
ethic and dedication to keep learning, and the halfway point in the season
marks the perfect time to take a step back and analyze everything we’ve done
together up to this point.”

“This is the first time in my life that I’ve been able to be a
full time race car driver,” said Harraka. “It’s also the first time that I’ve
had a mentor and coach like Ted to teach me things I may have otherwise missed.
I’m excited about the opportunity to keep learning and growing this season, and
I’m fortunate to have the sound backing of our PHLLC partners as I do that.”

Harraka stands 20th in championship points after 11
races this season, with a best finish of 17th. He has crashed out of
four events.